University of Texas at Tyler freshman Carly Bammel, 18, really appreciates the $2,500 scholarship she received in 2010 from the Montgomery County Fair Association. It’s helping her pay for $18,000 to $20,000 in college tuition, books and housing every year.

“I never thought they’d pick me, but I filled out the applications for scholarships at the last minute and ended up getting a lot,” Bammel said. “I was really excited when I got it, and I knew it would help out with tuition, housing and books.”

Bammel, a nursing student, graduated from Magnolia High School last May and was one of 40 graduating area seniors to receive a $2,500 scholarship from the MCFA in 2010. Along with scholarships for Fair Queen candidates and calf scramble participants, about $117,000 in scholarships was given in 2010, said Stuart Traylor, head of the scholarship committee.

Another 40-plus students will receive scholarships this year, Traylor said. In the 10-12 years of giving scholarships, the MCFA has given about $1 million to graduating seniors.

“We feel like the county’s been good to us and we want to give back to the county and the students,” Traylor said. “We know that $2,500 isn’t a lot, but if we can give them a little bit of a boost, maybe it can help. If you can get them in school and get them fired up, then they can keep themselves there.”

Funding for the scholarships comes from the Montgomery County Fair Scholarship Trail Ride, a wine tasting event and the 5 percent collected from the sales at the Junior Livestock Auction and the Junior Non-Livestock Auction.

At the March 1 deadline, 110 applications were received and 85 have qualified, Traylor said. There are 12 high schools within six school districts in the county, as well as specialty or private schools, which are eligible. Only seniors graduating in the spring in the top 25 percent of their class with a minimum SAT score of 900 or ACT score of 20 are eligible.

While “about half” of the scholarship recipients are usually fair participants involved in local 4-H and FFA clubs, Traylor said it is not a requirement.

“We look at it from the standpoint of need and then what they’ve been involved in, and not necessarily what their grades are but what classes they’re taking,” he said. “We want to help as many kids as we can, but we want to help those kids that are gonna be there in the end.”

Bammel was involved with FFA and 4-H, having shown pigs for two years at the fair and for six years at various Magnolia events. In high school, she raised her animals while working, studying and diving, and believes it improved her multitasking skills.

“It definitely taught me responsibility. It was up to me to take care of the animals and get the feed for it,” she said. “It helped me learn to manage my time and money because I was working and trying to keep my grades up and had extracurricular activities.”